Unlike the country’s Consumer price index and external trade, the area of Gross Domestic Products spelled some good news for Belize.

For the first half of 2017, the GDP showed a slight growth. The country’s level of economic activity increased by 1.1 percent when compared to the same period in 2016. The total value of goods and services produced in Belize was $737 million, up $8 million from $729 in the first half of 2016. (Insert GDP Fig 1)

Production was slightly up across all major industries, including agriculture hunting and forestry. All that accounts for this quarter’s increase in the total goods and services produced by Belize in the second quarter of 2017. (Insert GDP Fig 2)

The primary sector experienced a growth of 4.1 percent during the second quarter, when compared to the same period last year, as several major industries recorded increases in production for this period. (Insert GDP Fig 3)

The tertiary sector, which accounts for over a half of the country’s economic activities, grew by 1.7 percent during the second quarter of 2017. “‘Government Services’ recorded an increase of 2.2 percent, while ‘Transport, storage and communication’ was up by 4.4 percent. Conversely, the ‘whole sale and retail trade’ sector recorded a decrease of 2.3 percent, as reflected in a 10.2 percent decline in imports for the period.

Following the recession seen in 2016 after four consecutive quarters of decline, this marginal increase spells a little bit of good news for Belize but we are yet to see results for the remainder of 2017.